Rasmussen: 55% want ObamaCare repealed

Ed MorrisseyPosted at 11:36 am on March 25, 2010

And so it happens that Democrats finally celebrate the passage of Agenda Item #2 in their 111th Session of Congress thirteen months after passing Agenda Item #1. Hope they get a chance to party hearty for now, because the ObamaCare bill has the American electorate in an entirely different kind of mood. What does it say for the Democrats that a solid majority of voters don’t just dislike the bill it took them so long to pass, but want it repealed as soon as possible?

Just before the House of Representatives passed sweeping health care legislation last Sunday, 41% of voters nationwide favored the legislation while 54% were opposed. Now that President Obama has signed the legislation into law, most voters want to see it repealed.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the first two nights after the president signed the bill, shows that 55% favor repealing the legislation. Forty-two percent (42%) oppose repeal. Those figures include 46% who Strongly Favor repeal and 35% who Strongly Oppose it.

In terms of Election 2010, 52% say they’d vote for a candidate who favors repeal over one who does not. Forty-one percent (41%) would cast their vote for someone who opposes repeal.

Not surprisingly, Republicans overwhelmingly favor repeal while most Democrats are opposed. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 59% favor repeal, and 35% are against it.

Undeniably, there will be some districts where ObamaCare is popular, and repeal efforts will gain no foothold in Congressional or Senate races. However, those safe seats for Democrats have begun to narrow sharply, while the midterms look more and more like an ObamaCare referendum. If so, then Democrats have marginalized themselves behind their radical, partisan leadership — and can expect to return for the 112th session a much narrower, partisan group.

The demographics of repeal show big problems for Democrats. It’s favored in every age demographic, including 53% of young voters (18-29) who strongly favor repeal. A majority of every income demographic supports repeal as well, except for those in the $100K+ bracket, which opposes repeal 57/43. Even 27% of Democrats favor repeal, with 22% favoring it strongly.

Under those conditions, which party will get their votes in November? According to another survey question, 52% will vote for the pro-repeal candidate, including 22% of Democrats. Majorities of men and women agree, as do majorities or pluralities of every age demographic.

Republicans need to keep the focus on ObamaCare until the midterms. Democrats can’t defend it, nor can they defend the process that produced it. They can celebrate all they want now, but they’ll find themselves out of their jobs if they can’t stop talking about their one legislative victory.